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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25523482">No Proof You're Mine</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/decentlysane/pseuds/decentlysane'>decentlysane</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Good Place (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Amnesia, Angst, Bad Ending, F/M, First Meetings, Michael's still evil sorry, POV Third Person, POV Third Person Limited, Red String of Fate, Romance, Sad Ending</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 07:22:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,389</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25523482</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/decentlysane/pseuds/decentlysane</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Chidi wakes up in the Good Place without his red string, Michael tells him not to worry- that the system has made sure soulmates end up in the same neighborhood. But after meeting Eleanor, Chidi can't imagine that they're actually fated to be together for eternity. Not when she's so loud. Not when she isn't meant to be there. Not without the string to prove it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Chidi Anagonye &amp; Eleanor Shellstrop, Chidi Anagonye/Eleanor Shellstrop</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>34</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. (after)Life is disappointing</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is the first fanfic I've written in years, but I've always loved soulmate aus and I would die for Chidi/Eleanor.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>His eyes open.</p>
<p>“Everything is fine.”</p>
<p>That’s what it says on the wall in front of him and plain green text. Not exactly on the wall. More floating in front of it. Like a pop-up add or something.</p>
<p>Chidi’s first instinct is that everything is not fine, but he can’t put his finger on what for a moment. He often feels that things are not fine. He looks around the room, remaining seated on the couch though he can’t remember how he got there. He looks at his hand and dread fills him.</p>
<p>His thread is gone. There is no red string wrapped around his index finger.</p>
<p>Before he can start panicking, an older, white-haired man sticks his head out of the door to the adjacent room.</p>
<p>“Chidi? Come on in.” His voice is kind and his face is friendly- calming enough to keep him from yelling that something horrid has happened, so he stands up and follows the man.</p>
<p>He’s sitting at a desk. An office chair sits empty in front of it and he gestures for Chidi to sit down.</p>
<p>“My name’s Michael,” the man says as Chidi eases into the seat. “How are you doing today?”</p>
<p>“Oh I’m fine,” Chidi says even though he is absolutely not. “Just some questions first. Where am I, how did I get here, and do you know what happened to my string?” The questions come out in a jumble, after a single breath, but Michael smiles.</p>
<p>“Right. You, Chidi Anagonye, are dead,” Michael says, very matter of factly. “Your earthly life has ended, and you are now in the next phase of your existence. In the Good Place, of course.”</p>
<p>“Dead?” yelps Chidi. Well, that’s better than the alternative. He could be kidnapped. Or his soulmate could be dead, and that’s why the string was gone. It didn’t change the fact that arriving in an afterlife was shocking. “Heaven is real?”</p>
<p>“Oh, yes,” Michael says. “Not how you humans imagined it. Everyone got a little something right, but the only person who got even close was Doug Forcett.”</p>
<p>“Is he a philosopher?” Chidi asked. “I don’t recognize the name.” That was odd, as Chidi knew about basically all the modern philosophers. Every new source that came out was immediately read and inserted into the sources for his own book.</p>
<p>“No, he’s just a stoner who got really high and guessed like 92% correct,” he explains before pointing at a picture on the wall. It was an 80s era red-tinted photo of an awkward looking teenager. “Now, let’s take a walk, shall we?” He stood and started heading towards the door, and Chidi got up to follow.</p>
<p>“Here’s how it works,” Michael begins as they leave the building and begin walking through what felt like a small, quaint town with cafe building and flower carts and fountains. “The Good Place has different neighborhoods, and each one is selected with exactly three hundred and twenty two people meant to mesh perfectly with each other. Every building, every plant, every ladybug, is designed for its residents.”</p>
<p>“This is… incredible,” Chidi says as he looks around in amazement, appreciating the feel of his afterlife. “There really is a paradise waiting for people who live morally.”</p>
<p>“Indeed it is,” Michael says. “I’ll catch up with you in a bit, but there’s a movie about to play for all of you to get acclimated. It’ll answer some questions that I haven’t answered yet.”</p>
<p>Chidi found it a bit funny that there were still introductory videos in the afterlife, of all places. But he thanked Michael and found a seat among the hundreds of people ready to watch.</p>
<p>The video started with an explanation on how everyone there got to the Good Place, with different points, and frankly, Chidi was only a bit surprised that he managed to get in. He remembered the almond milk and felt a stab of guilt before reminding himself that it didn’t matter now.</p>
<p>Where he got excited was when he heard the word “soulmate.”</p>
<p>The rest of the crowd did too, everyone murmuring with excitement and looking around. He looked down to his finger, half expecting for his string to reappear and lead him to his partner in afterlife, sitting mere yards from him. It didn’t.</p>
<p>“We held people for as long as necessary for their soulmate to pass on so that we could place them here, in this neighborhood, together,” the recorded Michael informed them. “While you no longer have your strings, we will be introducing those that have yet to meet their soulmate and reuniting those that have.”</p>
<p>Chidi sat in his seat for a minute after the video ended, taking it in. He was in eternal happiness with his soulmate.</p>
<p>Surely, he shouldn’t feel like he’s about to puke.</p>
<p>“Chidi?” Michael asks, walking up to him. “How you feeling, buddy?”</p>
<p>“Incredibly anxious,” Chidi responds, bouncing his knee frantically. “Sweaty. Is there anxiety medication in the Good Place?”</p>
<p>Michael chuckles. “Oh, Chidi, why are you worried? This is an exciting day. If architects had soulmates, I’d be thrilled to know that I was getting to meet them.”</p>
<p>“It’s just… a lot to take in,” he says. “I’m dead. And so’s my soulmate. And we’re going to spend eternity together.”</p>
<p>“Isn’t it wonderful?” Michael claps him on the back. “You’re going to love her, Chidi. She’s a wonderful person, very pretty, and, if I may disclose this, she got one of the highest rankings for points out of everyone here.”</p>
<p>Chidi looks up, surprised. “Really?”</p>
<p>Oh, yes, Michael says kindly. “Her name’s Eleanor Shellstrop. Let’s go meet her.”</p>
<p>He led them to a small cottage, the outside painted in bright primary colors. Though certainly not his style choice, it was interesting to see that she, too, preferred smaller living spaces.</p>
<p>Michael led them in, and Eleanor was standing right there. She was white with short blonde hair and she was wearing a blue flannel shirt. She looks at him, her face friendly.</p>
<p>Chidi finds himself feeling… excited. Michael’s right. This should be the start of something truly amazing for the two of them.</p>
<p>“Eleanor? I’m Chidi Anagonye. You’re my soulmate.” He feels himself break into a grin as he says it.</p>
<p>She spreads her arms. “Cool! Bring it in, man,” she says, moving forward and embracing him. Chidi’s never felt so at ease as he wraps his arms around her. They didn’t need their strings to find each other, thanks to the fact that they were both good. It was comforting to know that his soulmate was like him- moral.</p>
<p>Michael left them alone. Chidi felt instantly eager to learn all he could about the woman in front of him, but she asked him first. He told her about how he traveled, and then she told him about how she stayed in Phoenix her whole life. Which was fine. You didn’t need to be well traveled to do good, clearly.</p>
<p>“It’s overwhelming, to finally meet you,” he tells her. “I can’t wait to learn about the universe, with you, for eternity. As soulmates.” His smile widens and he hopes he doesn’t look like a maniac.</p>
<p>“Chidi, you’ll stand by me no matter what, right?” she asks, looking serious.</p>
<p>He furrows his brow, feeling concerned. “Of course I will.”</p>
<p>“Promise. Promise you’ll never betray me for any reason.” Her expression is intense.</p>
<p>He swears it to her and more.</p>
<p>She looks relieved. “Good. Because those aren’t my memories.” She points to the projection of some sort of mission work. “I wasn’t a lawyer. I never went to the Ukraine. I hate clowns.” She shudders at the thought of the picture currently hanging on her wall. “There’s been a mistake. I’m not supposed to be here.”</p>
<p>“What?” Chidi feels everything crashing around him.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Panicking Can't Make It Worse</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Obviously, Chidi's stomach is twisting immediately.</p><p>His soulmate in not a good person. He finally meets his soulmate, and she was literally supposed to be in hell.</p><p>"Are you sure?" he asks, knowing it's a stupid question but literally desperate for her to laugh at him, throw up her hands, and say, "JUST KIDDING" so that he can go back to being happy in eternal paradise and live with his soulmate forever.</p><p>"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I wasn't a death row lawyer who collected clown paintings and rescued orphans," she insists.</p><p>Chidi pushes away the thoughts that begin to intrude (she could have been a death row lawyer?) and buries his face in his hands.</p><p>"They got my name right, but nothing else," Eleanor continues. "I mean, someone royally forked up."</p><p>Another thought niggles at his brain. Her name was right. What if they had the wrong Eleanor? Could the girl standing in front of him not actually be his soulmate? Someone's real memories were being projected. If not her's, who's?</p><p>He feels no comfort in learning that she sold fake medicine to the elderly.</p><p>They go out and get yogurt, because what else are they going to do?</p><p>"Maybe this is a test," Chidi tells her. "Maybe, you were almost in the Good Place, and since I was here and they put soulmates together, they wanted to give you a chance. And you just need to tell Michael the truth. And then you get to stay."</p><p>"I can't risk going to the Bad Place!" Eleanor exclaims.</p><p>"Maybe it's not that bad," Chidi offers.</p><p>Janet confirms that it is, in fact, that bad.</p><p>"You know, maybe you have a point about us being soulmates, though," Eleanor says. "And that they let me in because you were, and we're meant to be together. So I say that we don't tell anyone and we just live out our afterlife happily."</p><p>Chidi isn't sure how he can live out his afterlife happily while harboring this big of a secret and not being able to know if this really in HIS Eleanor or not. He looks down at his hand, hoping that he can maybe will his string back into existence.</p><p>Nothing changes.</p><p>Chidi's stomach continues to ache horribly.</p><p>...</p><p>He agrees to teach her ethics. The flattery he gives her certainly helps. ("You're the perfect teacher!")</p><p>She learns. Fast, too.</p><p>She brings Jason to the classes, once it's revealed who he is. He hates lying to Tahani on top of everyone else.</p><p>Part of him wonders if he and Tahani are soulmates, and Eleanor and Jason are mistakes, or maybe also soulmates that got mislabeled and everything got scrambled. Tahani is certainly a good person who deserves her spot in the Good Place, far more than either of his students.</p><p>Still, he finds himself glancing at where his string used to be less and less.</p><p>...</p><p>When they fight, he can almost feel a tug pulling them back together. He'd never met her when they were on earth, so he had no way of knowing if it were true, but supposedly strings would tighten between soulmates when there was strain.</p><p>He thinks that it must be his subconscious trying to convince him that they're real, because if he thinks about his real soulmate being somewhere else- the Bad Place, no less- his stomachache gets unbearable.</p><p>...</p><p>The stress never ends. Each near escape for Eleanor and Jason leads to the snowball of horribleness picking up speed as it barrels down the mountain, threatening to destroy the little peace that Chidi had manged to feel in his months of chaos in paradise. </p><p>Right up to the moment that the snowball hits and Eleanor tells Michael that she doesn't belong there, Chidi's barley been keeping composed. After, he's a sweating anxious mess.</p><p>What if she really was his soulmate and she would be taken away right then? He would never know for sure. He had failed to help her, which put into question his ability to be good. This failure could lead to him eternally damning someone's soul.</p><p>It was not a good feeling.</p><p>Until he's told that there's another Eleanor Shellstrop. The real one. His soulmate.</p><p>Then, he's so happy he could start leaping for joy.</p><p>Not in front of fake Eleanor, though. She was still his friend.</p><p>...</p><p>Real Eleanor is perfect- everything that Fake Eleanor was supposed to be. Caring, selfless, moral. A good person, belonging in the Good Place.</p><p>He talked to her about everything. About things he hadn't told the other Eleanor.</p><p>But he doesn't love her. Or, rather, he's worried that he doesn't actually love her and only wants to say it to her because the universe has willed them together. This had been a worry when he was alive, too- and part of the reason he had never sought her out.</p><p>Still, Chidi was happy that he had her now. So he could at least learn if he did or not.</p><p>...</p><p>Fake Eleanor confesses feelings for him, which spirals him deep into questioning. Maybe Fake Eleanor really was his soulmate, and Real Eleanor wasn't, and their places had simply been switched in the afterlife. But that couldn't have been possible, because he was supposed to be here.</p><p>Right?</p><p>...</p><p>"Hey, Janet?" Chidi calls. He's alone, and he needs to try something.</p><p>Janet dings into existence and smiles. "Yes?"</p><p>"You know everything in the universe, correct?"</p><p>"That is correct. My information is constantly updating."</p><p>Chidi takes a deep breathe. "Then... can you tell me who my soulmate is?"</p><p>"Your soulmate is named Eleanor Shellstrop," Janet responds perkily.</p><p>"I know that," Chidi says, frustrated. "But who was my string connected to before I died?"</p><p>"Your string is still here, it's just hidden by the neighborhood as Michael told everyone who their soulmate was anyway," Janet answers, as though the information being delivered isn't shocking. "I can reveal it to you, if you would like."</p><p>"Y-you can do that?" Chidi stammers, flabbergasted, shocked, shaking. "Yes! Please do!"</p><p>"Okay," Janet says, then with a "ding" she's gone.</p><p>Chidi looks down at his hand, and the red thread is knotted around his finger once again, leading out of the house. He gives a laugh of surprise, relief, and delight. He's about to leave when Real Eleanor walks into the house, smiling at him and beginning to inform him about what she a Bombajon had figured out for Fake Eleanor's case. Chidi wasn't listening.</p><p>His string didn't lead to her.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Horrible Cycle Begins Again</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He knows immediately that he has to get to Fake Eleanor, because something isn't right. Real Eleanor looks at him expectantly, like she's said something that requires a response from him.</p>
<p>He feels like throwing up.</p>
<p>"I've gotta go," Chidi stammers out, pushing past Real Eleanor- though he's beginning to doubt the she is, in fact, Real Eleanor- and runs out of the house, ignoring her shouts and following the red string that connects him to his soulmate.</p>
<p>He's gotten to town when he sees her, running towards him just as fast.</p>
<p>"You see it too, right?" she asks desperately as she meets him putting her hands on his chest to balance as she comes to a stop.</p>
<p>He doesn't know what to say, he hasn't gathered his thoughts correctly, he knows something is very wrong, and he wants to tell her that, and apologize for calling her "Fake Eleanor" constantly but he doesn't know how to get it all out so he kisses her.</p>
<p>She seems surprised, but she kisses him back.</p>
<p>It's wonderful, searing, intense.</p>
<p>She pulls away first. "What the fork, man?"</p>
<p>Chidi immediately flinches away, realizing that he was holding her shoulders. "I am so sorry Eleanor. I shouldn't have done that."</p>
<p>"No, no, not that. That was forkin' hot," she assures him. "But this!" She holds up her hand and points at the string, then to the end that attaches to him. "What is going on?"</p>
<p>Chidi shakes his head. "I don't know," he says. "But the other Eleanor... I don't think she's really who she says she is. She can't be."</p>
<p>"I don't think any of this is what anyone says it is," Eleanor retorts. "I think... Chidi, I think we're in the Bad Place."</p>
<p>"What?" Chidi exclaims. "That's ridiculous! This is paradise! Everyone's with their soulmate-"</p>
<p>"Tahani isn't," Eleanor points out. "I don't think we're supposed to be, or we are and you're in the Bad Place, being tortured by having me as a soulmate."</p>
<p>"Eleanor-"</p>
<p>She throws up her hands. "It's okay. I know I've been causing you stress since we got here. And that's more proof. Have you been relaxed at any point in the past few months in this supposed paradise?"</p>
<p>"No," Chidi relents, and he can't help but think that she's right. "What do we do?"</p>
<p>"Confront Michael?" Eleanor suggests. "The worst we can be is wrong, and well, if we are, I'm getting sent down there anyway."</p>
<p>"And if I knew my soulmate were being sent to hell... that would be torture for me. Holy shirt," Chidi says, realization flowing over him. "This... this is the bad place."</p>
<p>"You figured it out?" exclaims who Chidi now knew to be not Eleanor. Chidi whips his head around to see her, storming up behind them. "I had a whole monologue rehearsed and planned... screw you guys!"</p>
<p>Other residents swoop in on them- Bombajon grabs Chidi, not Eleanor grabbed Eleanor, and they dragged them to the offices. The soulmates looked at each other. Fear and determination was set in Eleanor's eyes.</p>
<p><em>Well, guess she's right</em>, Chidi thinks miserably. <em>I shouldn't have drank almond milk</em>.</p>
<p>"They figured it out, Michael," Bombajon says when the reached the Architect's office, shoving Chidi forward and onto one of the chairs set before Michael's desk.</p>
<p>He stood up. "Figured what out?"</p>
<p>"We're in the bad place," Eleanor responds snarkily as she, too, was pushed to a chair.</p>
<p>For a moment, the old man was silent. Then his face shifts into a grin as he gave a maniacal chuckle. "Well then, how did you figure it out this time?"</p>
<p>Chidi's eyes widen. "I'm sorry, this time? As in, we've figured it out before?"</p>
<p>"Oh, right," Michael says. "I haven't given those memories back yet. Yes, you've figured it out before. Hundreds of times. So tell me, what gave it away this time?"</p>
<p>"I asked Janet if I could still see my string," Chidi stammers. "I'm sorry, <em>hundreds</em>?"</p>
<p>"Give our memories back?" exclaims Eleanor. "What the fork is going on?"</p>
<p>But Michael was shaking his head. "Asked to see your string," Michael sighs. "Guess I won't be trying the other soulmate plot line again, that's fifteen times that they've used that to solve it way earlier than normal."</p>
<p>"Oh, c'mon Michael," not Eleanor whines. "I never get to have my big finish as Chidi's soulmate!"</p>
<p>"Oh, quiet, Vicky," Michael says. "It wasn't working anyway. Well, Chidi, Eleanor, I'm sorry I have to do this." He gives a laugh. "Who am I kidding? No I'm not. It's wonderful to see you tortured." He snaps his fingers.</p>
<p>Chidi feels his whole life flash before his eyes, but more than that- hundreds of new memories are coming back to him. All of them are from this neighborhood, of Tahani and Jason and especially Eleanor. There's so many of Eleanor.</p>
<p>He watches them fall in love over and over again. He watches himself say "I love you", he watches her say it back. He feels every moment when he realizes they're truly soulmates, whether he's asked for the string back or accepted it on his own.</p>
<p>He watches them realize that this is the bad place hundreds of times. Sometimes they're with Jason and Tahani, but sometimes it's just them.</p>
<p>He watches himself remember all these things, each memory of remembering piling on more and more. He watches Michael delete it all again with a single snap, and he wakes up and starts over.</p>
<p>He feels hundreds of restarts worth of love for Eleanor fill his heart. He feels hundreds or restarts worth of grief at the crushing realization that it would all be taken away again.</p>
<p>He's panting, he realizes, and he's reached out to grab Eleanor's hand. Their fingers are tightly woven together. She's started crying. He feels tears slide down his own cheeks.</p>
<p>This is their torture. To fall in love, and then get it snatched from their hands once again.</p>
<p>Michael chuckles. "See you two again soon," he says. His fingers snap, and everything is gone.</p>
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